All the things I could have said...
Last year, I found out (via Facebook) that my favourite teacher from highschool had passed away. He'd been battling cancer for several years, and after several rounds of chemo and radiation therapy, it finally killed him. After expressing my condolences to his family and sharing stories about him with friends, I couldn't help but spend a good amount of time thinking about how much he'd meant to me as a guide and mentor... and wondering what the hell had kept me from telling him so while he was alive.
Oh, I always MEANT to do so.
I MEANT to write him a good long letter, telling him how much of an impact he'd had on me, and how much I had appreciated his guidance, his humour, and so many other things that helped me through some hideous times back then, but just never got around to it. Either I was too busy doing other things, or held myself back from some kind of fear of actually pouring forth emotion to someone outside my immediate circle.
Is it that fear that holds us back from expressing so many things that we think and feel about those around us? Take a moment to think about the positive interactions you have with people you have contact with in your daily life. Are there people who inspire you? Support you? Make you smile? Are there those whom you appreciate for some little gesture that they've shown you, or for something they've taught you, shared with you, etc?
Have you ever told them that you appreciate them?
If not, why haven't you? Is there something holding you back, or has it just never seemed the "right time" to do so?
There have been countless occasions where I have sincerely regretted not telling people how I felt about them while I had the chance to do so... and I doubt that I'm the only person who has experienced this sort of thing.
So many of us hurry through life without taking time to savour the small bits of wonder and joy around us, let alone taking time to share those joys with others, or expressing to those around us how we feel about them. We're busybusy creatures, caught up in the never-ceasing forward rush, and if the thought crosses our minds to take a moment and actually express the appreciation we have, we often dismiss it with "I'll do it later", or "when I have time to."
Right. Because it apparently takes such a huge amount of time and effort to send off an email, or write a note, or just make a quick phone call. What would we be doing otherwise? Trolling YouTube for some new inane clip? Immersing ourselves in a TV show?
I am not the only person who has suddenly lost someone I cared about without any advance warning, and was devastated to think about all the wasted opportunities to tell them how much they meant to me. Life tends to throw us curveballs when we least expect it, and that big bucket of "time later" that believe we have, and have allocated all sorts of things to, may turn out to have a rather sizeable hole at the bottom of it.
Think about the last time that someone let you know something positive about yourself. How did it make you feel?
This may have been a scenario where close friend or relative expressed care or affection, or something as simple as a client at work expressing their appreciation for something you've done well. I once witnessed a scene in a shop where a woman had spoken to one of the managers about the exceptional service she had received from one of the female customer service reps. After the customer left, the manager called the young woman over to tell her about the glowing review she'd received, and the girl burst into tears-- She was so surprised to have heard something so positive about herself that she was just overwhelmed.
I think most of us have experienced a situation where someone has said something to us that we have carried with us for our entire lives, be that positive or negative. Hurtful, scathing words etch scars within us, while beautiful expressions give us strength and joy.
It doesn't take long to let another know how you feel about them, nor does it take some incredible amount of courage or energy to do so. A few minutes spent pouring a bit of light into another's life can have unbelievable domino effects: that person may in turn go and tell others about how much you've brightened their day, and they in turn might then take the time to help others experience it as well, and then those others in turn... and it just goes on and on.
Here's my challenge to you today: Let one person know how much you appreciate them, or how awesome they are, or how dear they are to you. Be it by voice, text, note scrawled in eyeliner on the back of a receipt... it doesn't matter.
Namaste.
Oh, I always MEANT to do so.
I MEANT to write him a good long letter, telling him how much of an impact he'd had on me, and how much I had appreciated his guidance, his humour, and so many other things that helped me through some hideous times back then, but just never got around to it. Either I was too busy doing other things, or held myself back from some kind of fear of actually pouring forth emotion to someone outside my immediate circle.
Is it that fear that holds us back from expressing so many things that we think and feel about those around us? Take a moment to think about the positive interactions you have with people you have contact with in your daily life. Are there people who inspire you? Support you? Make you smile? Are there those whom you appreciate for some little gesture that they've shown you, or for something they've taught you, shared with you, etc?
Have you ever told them that you appreciate them?
If not, why haven't you? Is there something holding you back, or has it just never seemed the "right time" to do so?
There have been countless occasions where I have sincerely regretted not telling people how I felt about them while I had the chance to do so... and I doubt that I'm the only person who has experienced this sort of thing.
So many of us hurry through life without taking time to savour the small bits of wonder and joy around us, let alone taking time to share those joys with others, or expressing to those around us how we feel about them. We're busybusy creatures, caught up in the never-ceasing forward rush, and if the thought crosses our minds to take a moment and actually express the appreciation we have, we often dismiss it with "I'll do it later", or "when I have time to."
Right. Because it apparently takes such a huge amount of time and effort to send off an email, or write a note, or just make a quick phone call. What would we be doing otherwise? Trolling YouTube for some new inane clip? Immersing ourselves in a TV show?
I am not the only person who has suddenly lost someone I cared about without any advance warning, and was devastated to think about all the wasted opportunities to tell them how much they meant to me. Life tends to throw us curveballs when we least expect it, and that big bucket of "time later" that believe we have, and have allocated all sorts of things to, may turn out to have a rather sizeable hole at the bottom of it.
Think about the last time that someone let you know something positive about yourself. How did it make you feel?
This may have been a scenario where close friend or relative expressed care or affection, or something as simple as a client at work expressing their appreciation for something you've done well. I once witnessed a scene in a shop where a woman had spoken to one of the managers about the exceptional service she had received from one of the female customer service reps. After the customer left, the manager called the young woman over to tell her about the glowing review she'd received, and the girl burst into tears-- She was so surprised to have heard something so positive about herself that she was just overwhelmed.
I think most of us have experienced a situation where someone has said something to us that we have carried with us for our entire lives, be that positive or negative. Hurtful, scathing words etch scars within us, while beautiful expressions give us strength and joy.
It doesn't take long to let another know how you feel about them, nor does it take some incredible amount of courage or energy to do so. A few minutes spent pouring a bit of light into another's life can have unbelievable domino effects: that person may in turn go and tell others about how much you've brightened their day, and they in turn might then take the time to help others experience it as well, and then those others in turn... and it just goes on and on.
Here's my challenge to you today: Let one person know how much you appreciate them, or how awesome they are, or how dear they are to you. Be it by voice, text, note scrawled in eyeliner on the back of a receipt... it doesn't matter.
Namaste.